FL_Sharpshooter

I've been staring at those rage chunks in SK's catalog for a while now. I think I'm going to go ahead and order a couple bags of those. I'm just having a little bit of trouble matching up my camouflage colored bitsy flip jig to a rage craw color though. Not sure what to use for that one --I guess California craw? I'm definitely getting the black blue flake though for my black/blue bitsy. Thanks for the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

Just wondering what kind of trailers I should be using on my jigs. I generally throw out only Stike king's 1/4oz bitsy flip/bug jigs in three colors - Bleeding White, Green Crawfish, and Black/Blue. I'm fishing a canal in SW FL where there are not any sort of crawdads to my knowledge, so I kind of ruled out those as trailers. The water is also around 10ft deep. The only kind of bait fish I have seen in the canal are shiners. I once used a tube with one of my jigs, and landed that 2lb 15oz bass in my avatar. That is the only fish I have ever caught using a jig, I have tried using twin tail grubs, baby brush hogs, and crawdads are trailers, but no luck. Any suggestions on what I should be using?

Man those huge smallies you keep catching are making my big largemouth look small ;D.

Sounds exactly like the canal that I fish. I mainly use pegged bullet weighted lines rigged with a culprit worm texposed. I've had some pretty good luck lately fishing with a Strike king bitsy flip rigged with a tube, maybe you can try that. I usually try to target tiny holes where you can see nothing but blackness. I also frequently run topwater bait, such as buzzbaits, lizards, or frogs. That could be another option too, goodluck!

I'd probably just ignore the situation and be the better person to walk away. I wouldn't let it get me down. I can understand the frustration though. Some people are just born without manners.

Culprit Fire & Ice 7.5" Twirl tail worm GYCB 5" Senko (any color)

I rig mine on either a Strike king Bitsy bug/flip, or I rig them weightless. I like to rig them on a 5/0 EWG hook. If I had the hooks available, I'd go with 4/0 1/8oz weighted Gamakatsu hooks. Seems like they kind of sink a little slower for me, but you can get some bites that way too. I fish them just like a plastic worm. Of course there's a billion other ways to fish them, just experiment with them and you'll figure out what the bass want. I've heard these are excellent for small mouth bass as well.

That's pretty interesting. Seems to make sense to use the heavier braid though. I just wasn't sure that my reel could hold that thick of line, so I just went with 20lb braid. Thanks for the useful information, I'll definitely keep that in mind next time I buy some more.

I just use a berkley digital scale I bought at wal-mart for $20 If I remember correctly. It measures up to 50lbs. It seems to be accurate enough, I've only noticed it being off 1 oz or so, if that. I'd probably go with the lip grabber though, it's kind of a pain to get the fish to stay still to stick the hook under its lip.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up, that seems to make some sense. I am almost afraid anymore not to run braided line, especially after how many times I've snapped my line without it.

Sounds like a nice setup, I like the extra fast action. Sounds like I would be better off with the longer rod, because I mainly fish canals with very thick moss and coverage. Just curious, but what kind of line do you usually run on it? I use 40lb braid on the longer rod. I've never broken it. There have been times when I've questioned it. I may bump it up to 50 or 65 one of these days. On the shorter rod is 30lb braid. Seems like pretty heavy braid to be running, but if you can get away with it, then that's good. Thanks for letting me know. I'll have to look into those curados more, I've heard good things about them. I fish a canal that is full of heavy topwater and submerged moss, but every now and then I get the opportunity to fish the river. I usually fish by submerged trees as well. I've been running 20# power pro braid on my spinning rod/reel, and I've NEVER broken the line. I do get caught in moss every now and then, but I'm always able to pull out of it. Everyone once in a great while when I feel and see a bigger bass on my line, he will bury himself in the moss close to the bank. I usually have a long net handy for that. I've heard to use power pro with #'s ~20, and anything beyond 30# to go with sufix. 8' is a pretty long rod, but I guess that gives you more control? I generally don't flip very heavy jigs, I generally use Strike King's bitsy flips. I'll check out that Shimano Calcutta too and let you know what I think of it, thanks.

I'd say that looks about a 5 1/2 lber. Very very nice bass. I usually grab their bottom lip with my thumb and support their belly with my other hand. It's usually a good idea to dip your hand in the water before handling the belly, as to not wipe off any of their protective slime. Great catch!

Pretty funny you mentioned the bucket thing. I was doing this 2 weeks ago in my front yard with my Shimano baitcaster, just getting the feel of it. It's really too sticky for my liking, probably needs greased or something... who knows. My neighbor was driving by and said, "Hey, there's no fish in there!" It was pretty funny. Yeah, I've noticed that with the spinning gear, it is way easier to flip and pitch with it, and I can be VERY accurate as well. My spinning gear is nothing fancy either, just a shakespeare rod and reel rigged with 20# power pro. Matter of fact, that 2lb 15oz in my avatar there was caught from that technique. I was using a Stike King bitsy flip with a 3-1/2" tube on it. I've watched several videos on the technique as well, so I think I've got the raw materials, I just need the appropriate gear for the job. Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it.

Sounds like a nice setup, I like the extra fast action. Sounds like I would be better off with the longer rod, because I mainly fish canals with very thick moss and coverage. Just curious, but what kind of line do you usually run on it?

Is that the one you used in your peacock video? It looked pretty nice. $275 doesn't seem too bad, I can probably get it a little cheaper if I look around online. Thanks for the suggestion. Seems like I am partial to Shimano, I don't know why.

I'm looking for a baitcaster to use for flipping/pitching. I've come to really like using this technique, as I use it often. The only problem is that I'm forced to use this on a Shakespeare 7ft rod with a spinning reel. I have a Shimano Coriolis 100 rigged on a shimano 6'6 rod, but just can't seem to get it tuned correctly for a nice release. It's probably just because its a bad reel/rod combo. Any advice on a good selection for this? I don't really have a budget, just whatever is nice.

You'll want to email chris brown about that, he takes care of marketing and consumer relations. His email is cbrown@strikeking.com Its also at this link: http://www.strikeking.com/contact/contact.php

It's all just a test of character, hang in there and your day will come.

If you can't find those Owner hooks anywhere, I've had good luck with Mustad's demon circle hooks, you can buy these at any local Wal-Mart. I'd probably recommend 5/0. I'd still for sure go with owner hooks because Yamamoto designed those, so obviously they are the better choice.

Do you ever fish the canals down there? I've heard the fishing there is phenomenal. I have been thinking about buying a place in Lehigh Acres mainly because of the home prices and the surplus of homes for sale. How do you like the area? Has the BP Oil Crisis affected the area much? Marc I fish the canals here every day, heck the canal is just 2 streets over from me. Sometimes the bite is on, others it isn't. The main problem is that the canals are really covered in moss, a lot of surface moss as well. The area is very nice and quiet, you've just go to be careful which side of Lehigh you pick, because like all areas, there are bad parts as well. Yes, the houses are very nice here, you're talking $200-300k+ houses selling for $90-100,000. The Oil has had 0 effect on where I live.

Every time I get heavy rain here, I ALWAYS fish something top water. Doesn't even matter if it wasn't meant for topwater (like texas-rigged senkos, worms, etc), I ALWAYS get a strike. In short: use something topwater .

Sounds like you need a better hook. I like to use a 3/0 Mustad Demon Circle hook, but If I ever buy any more I'll probably get 5/0 next time. I was always told not to ever set a circle hook, and just let the fish run with it. When I feel him running with it, I then give a slight tug and reel in, just something to consider.

I just usually wash my hands with bleach then with dish soap, I don't have any JJ's magic, but it always gets the fishy smell off my hands. I'd rather smell like bleach than fish

That's awesome, I am glad I could help. That's what this site is all about .

Awesome , let me know if it works for you. Thanks for the suggestion deep, I'll try that later today.